Irregular Conflict, the Department of Defense, and International Security Reform

This report offers a series of recommendations on how to undertake irregular conflicts--the “long wars” in which the United States has engaged--in a more effective and less costly manner. The report, derived from the efforts of a workshop held jointly by CNA, the National Defense University, and the United States Institute of Peace, proposes a triad of actions that, if implemented, could affect the duration, asymmetry and lethality of irregular conflict engagements and operations. The workshop utilized as a starting point recommendations by Quadrennial Defense Review Independent Review Panel, and therefore had a somewhat greater orientation toward the military side of such efforts (with later planned workshops having a greater focus on the civilian side)—but, as will be clear from the this report and the analysis below, an overriding conclusion is the absolutely critical need for effective integration among military and civilian efforts.